A picnic in Putrajaya

I love greenery. Put this together with a clear blue sky and a lake... voila!! a perfect setting for a picnic.

Putrajaya was the spot chosen for our picnic last Saturday. A picnic had been on our to-do list since earlier this year, but we had been occupied with family commitments almost every weekend since January, plus the weather hadn't been too cooperative either.

When I heard about the 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009, I thought it'd be perfect to have a picnic while enjoying the sight of colourful giant balloons going up in the air.

So we packed our picnic basket and headed south to the administrative capital of Malaysia, where what was once an oil palm estate called Prang Besar had been transformed into a well-planned picturesque city complete with a man-made lake.

There were many activities which took place in conjunction with the fiesta -- para-gliding, kite-flying and other outdoor activities. The girls went on the I-don't-know-what-it's-called inflated ball where you get inside, the ball gets rolling and you just go tumbling topsy-turvy!! It looked like fun!!

Later, we folded our mats and cleaned up our picnic area when the announcement was made for the hot-air balloons to go up. We then headed up to the Monumen Alaf Baru to secure a good spot to catch the balloons taking flight.

It was quite awesome to see the hot air balloons being inflated...

And even more so when they started to take flight...

The balloons came in many shapes and sizes...

This floating happy clown got the crowd cheering...

... and they went "awwwww" when it showed its 'sad side'...

Unfortunately we did not get to go on the inflated giant balls -- we thought no rides were on offer (read an online article prior to the event day) but someone told me today that rides were offered to the first 50 from the public -- what a bummer. I would've liked to get on one!! But... I guess it wouldn't have made a difference as we sure wasn't going to line up amongst the hundreds of people in the crowd.

We left after about eight balloons as it was getting dark but the crowd continued to pour in. I just wondered if many had sprained their neck muscle that day from looking up in the sky too much!! ;-)